Tenser Than Cords
by EdyFerrone
Summary: What Kurt has learnt fast, living with Hunter and Sebastian, is that if he weren't there, they would end up killing each other. One day it gets too much and it's up to Kurt to save them. (Part of the Clummythe verse).


**Ship:** Hints of Hunter/Kurt/Sebastian.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Summary:** What Kurt has learnt fast, living with Hunter and Sebastian, is that if he weren't there, they would end up killing each other. One day it gets too much and it's up to Kurt to save them. (Part of the Clummythe verse).

**Words Count: **5000+.

**A/N: **I finally managed to end up another piece of this verse :3 ! I swear I'm working on the parts where they're already into a relationship but this oneshots allow me to decide with characterization I'm going to give them. Especially Hunter, since he wasn't explored in canon! Hope you like it! You find other parts of this verse on my edyferrone tumblr tagged as clummythe-verse.

* * *

**Tenser Than Cords**

It's been a tense weak.

It's in the rooms of their apartment, printed on the smell on their clothes, breathable in the air they exhale and inhale.

The apartment looks like he's going to get on fire sooner or later.

Even now, while they're just having dinner silently, no one speaking and the TV sounding low and too far in the background, it just looks like a bomb is about to explode. There's a sticky sense of _almost_ that has been stuck between the three of them all day, but mostly, Kurt can see it hanging between Sebastian and Hunter. It's just been one month of living together, so he doesn't know anything about their past relationship with each other at Dalton. He doesn't know if there's something unresolved between them, but if it's there, it's what is clearly making him more nervous than usual.

"This is so good." Hunter murmurs eventually, his mouth half full as he turns to Kurt and swallows the bite of hot pasta down. "I'm so happy that we didn't listen to this idiot and have you cooking instead of ordering some ridiculously cheap pizza."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sebastian snaps immediately, letting his fork fall loudly and heavily into his half empty plat. "Are you implying that I'm an idiot, Clarington?" He asks, his voice sounding so much like a provocation that Kurt has to roll his eyes because _he felt_ this coming.

Hunter doesn't hesitate.

He turns and stares directly into Sebastian's eyes.

"Oh but I'm not _implying_, Smythe." He whispers, low and direct. "There's certainly no doubt about how much of an idiot you are."

"Fuck this shit." Sebastian says and pulls the plat aside abruptly, making Kurt startle as he stares at the scene incredulously. "I'm done with you, I'm done taking crap from you. You've been on my back all week-"

"On your back?" Hunter asks, crossing his arms to his chest and leaning his back against the plastic of the chair. "What did I do exactly to hurt your feelings?"

"Your stupid cat loses its fur on my clothes, you surely must have some sort of evil control on it." Sebastian says, lifting his eyebrows and smirking when he adds. "I wouldn't blame you. People don't stand how fucking crazy you are. You need a pet to love you because you know no one could-"

"Look who's talking." Hunter says sharply, his voice sounding meaner and more scratching than before. "The guy who everybody hates from the moment he opens his mouth. Tell me, Sebastian, what was that story about you desperately trying to-"

"_Shut up_." Sebastian whispers threateningly, like he doesn't want _Kurt_ to hear the end of the sentence, because it's pretty obvious that Hunter already knows. "Eat your fucking pasta before it gets cold and you can't compliment the bitch here anymore-"

"_Hey!_" Kurt tries to complain but he gets ignored.

"And what are _you_ implying, Smythe?" Hunter asks, blinking in surprise.

"I see what you're doing." Sebastian says lightly, as he smirks and nods towards Kurt. "Kurt is not your stupid pet. You won't get him to love you by patting his head and buying food so that he can cook it for you."

"_Sebastian_." Kurt scolds him strictly, but this doesn't get their attention like that either.

"I'm not trying to get Kurt to love me." Hunter says, shaking his head. "This is so stupid of you. Kurt just thinks I'm a nice person. Why don't you get over the fact that all he thinks of you instead is that you are the selfish piece of asshole who tried to get into his boyfriend's pants back in high school."

Kurt winces immediately at the mention as his mind slowly processes that Blaine is going to get married in less than two weeks now. He doesn't know whether he feels more panicked about the fact that his suit isn't ready yet, or that the thought of it still sends a sharp stab into his chest when he is supposed to move on instead.

"It was so delicate of you to mention it." Sebastian notices and Hunter turns to Kurt for a minute, and then goes back to him.

"Yeah, I see that you talking to him has helped Kurt a lot." He teases, sounding sick, mean and evil. "You know, I would have done better back then when I didn't know Kurt at all."

"Because you know him now." Sebastian comments ironically. "I can perfectly see how much your relationship has grown and you know everything about him now that you've been saying _hi_ to him in the morning instead of ignoring his presence in this house like you did in the beginning-"

"_Stop_." Kurt says and the low firm voice he uses must get the boy's attentions because they finally both turn to him. "Is …" He asks, chewing his bottom lip when he realizes that it's going to sound stupid, but he'll say that anyway. "Is this about me?"

Hunter and Sebastian both look at him for a few seconds, like they're contemplating the answer. Eventually, Hunter shifts for first, moving his chair on the pavement so that he can get closer to where Kurt is sitting.

"It's not, Kurt." He says, trying to sound reassuring but Kurt can see it on his features that he is still nervous. "It's just-"

"It's just that this is pure shit." Sebastian says and stands up, abandoning his place and starting to walk towards the bedroom. It's Wednesday, so it's his turn to have it, while Kurt and Hunter are going to sleep on the sofas. "I'm already fucking tired of you."

He doesn't even end the sentence before he's pushing the door behind his back, leaving the two of them alone at a silent table, embarrassment filling the room.

Kurt doesn't know how to do this.

He and Hunter aren't close enough for him _to know_ how to deal with this.

They eventually just go back to dinner, eating in silence and just randomly talking about their days. Hunter seems to be quite frustrated with his medicine schedules, and Kurt understands him, because he remembers how it was at NYADA, always being in a hurry, never wanting to miss a class and so on. But that's it. They don't talk about Sebastian and this thing that happened anymore. They just go to sleep silently, on different sofas.

Sometimes Kurt whishes he hadn't accepted living with these two.

/

For a few days everything is calm and just silently tense.

The air of the apartment is always unbearable, but at least there aren't other fights. They chat randomly, but it's never Hunter and Sebastian alone. Sometimes Sebastian bitterly mocks Kurt. Sometimes Kurt scolds Hunter about Mr. Puss and the mess his fur leaves around the house. Sometimes the three of them talk, but it's so random that Kurt _can see_ that Hunter and Sebastian are avoiding conversations with each other. He has no idea what's going on, but nothing more seems to happen, nothing like that night at dinner. Anything.

At least until Friday night comes.

/

Sebastian is out.

He said he was going to get laid or something, Kurt doesn't care. He's sitting on the sofa, cuddling to a pillow and watching Mean Girls for some reason he can't really explain to himself without losing his dignity. Hunter is sitting at the table, behind him, an enormous biology book on the table, before his eyes. He studies silently, not like Sebastian. Sebastian speaks when he does, so he's kind of frustrating with that too.

Kurt just takes this quiet time for himself to think.

It can't be about him, right?

First, it would be totally egocentric and Sebastianish of him to think that everything revolves around him when there's clearly a back story for Hunter and Sebastian that he doesn't know yet. This has probably more to do with some kind of stupid rivalry which is so strong and intense that makes Sebastian forget about his rivalry with Kurt instead.

Kurt was probably the excuse to fight at dinner and they just used him.

He needs to know it though.

He turns his head slightly just to look back at where Hunter is sitting. Asking him would do no wrong to anybody, right? If Hunter doesn't feel like answering, he's just going to say it, but at least Kurt would have tried to find out more. Maybe there's some way he can fix this. Not that he cares about what Hunter and Sebastian do, but seriously, this apartment feels tenser than cords now, and it might do him good to get some fresh calm air to breathe.

So he wants to believe that he is doing this for himself. Neither for Sebastian nor Hunter.

"Hunter?" He asks and Hunter doesn't hear him eventually, because he doesn't look up. So Kurt insists. "Hmm Hunter?" He tries again and he gets it.

Hunter looks up, meeting his gaze with confusion into his eyes.

"What's up? You're not feeling good?" He asks immediately and it warms Kurt's chest a little, the fact that Hunter feels protective over him. It's good to know that they're starting to get closer.

"No, hmm, guess I'm okay." He says and lifts to stand with his knees on the sofa, so that he can look better at him. "I'm just … not in a good mood? I don't know …" Hunter winces, so Kurt sighs and lets go. "What is it what you and Sebastian? It's becoming unbearable and although both of you creep me out in different ways, I … I don't want us to get to the point when one of us must go. I'm not ready to search for a new flamate or-"

"It sounds like you're talking about divorce and splitting the holidays," He jokes but then he must notice something serious on Kurt's face because he adds, "No one is leaving, Kurt. It's just a phase."

"Is this about me?" Kurt asks again, like he did that night.

"Kind of." Hunter answers, but then adds, "I mean it's not really about _you_. It's about you casually being in the middle of us."

"What do you mean?" Kurt asks, suddenly feeling his heart beating faster into his chest. He isn't sure why it's doing that though, not even when he watches Hunter standing up from the chair and walking slowly towards him.

"You know, since our times at Dalton, Sebastian and I got many problems with getting along," he explains as he sits on the arm of sofa, "We were always fighting about competitions, Warblers songs, really anything possible."

"I don't understand," Kurt says, turning back until he's sitting on the sofa again, "What has that to do with me?"

Hunter laughs, shrugging and staring at ceiling for a few seconds.

"You stand in the middle." He says again, after a brief silence, looking down at Kurt. "Back then, whenever we fought, we were left to do that until we got spent. No one interrupted us, either because we were funny or just because we looked dangerous. They just left us alone in the room until one of us got tired and walked away."

"So, I'm, huh … sort of the third wheel when you fight?" Kurt asks unsure, feeling suddenly uncomfortable at the idea.

"No, of course not," Hunter says, sliding on the sofa and sitting more properly, "I think you're more of a … balance wheel? We're forced to tone it down where you're around."

"_Tone it down?_" Kurt asks in shock. "Do you mean it's usually _worse_ than that?"

Hunter breathes in, and Kurt realizes that it is because he doesn't know if there's a good way to explain exactly how bad things can turn between them.

"Sometimes it gets a _lot worse_." He says eventually, lifting an arm over the back of the couch, so that now his forearm is almost touching the back of Kurt's head.

The heat coming from his skin is so pleasant that Kurt almost presses into it. _Almost_.

He still is so little confident with Hunter when it comes to physical contact that he wouldn't feel comfortable for long, no matter how inviting Hunter's body seems; perfect for couch cuddling if you asked Kurt.

"So, what's the sense in bringing me up when I'm supposed to be a _balance _wheel?" He asks, lowering his voice like the position is too intimate to talk out loud. "You don't even listen to me when I really try to balance things up between the two of you. All you do is … ignoring me and fighting about me, which I can't understand."

Hunter smirks for a moment and he tilts his head.

"That's exactly what your balance is about." He says, shrugging. "We don't have to search for excuses to fight because we can fight over you. It relaxes us at the end of the day, the acknowledgement that we'll find you here, standing between us."

"I don't really stand between you though." Kurt corrects immediately, the couch starting to warm him up better with the pressure of two bodies instead of one. "And I hope you don't get offended, but this is sort of the most stupid thing I've ever heard."

"I'm not going to kill you just because I'm studying." Hunter jokes and then he sighs, which makes Kurt think that there are many things he doesn't understand either with this situation. "Just don't worry too much about it, Kurt. Sebastian and I are used to it. No one is going to leave this apartment."

Kurt shakes his head and winces, not really convinced. He knows that Hunter and Sebastian are probably more aware of their relationship than he is, but he feels like there's something Hunter is not telling him about it all. He wouldn't mind, but it seems like the _key_ of this reasoning is missing, the central part of it which gives a sense to the way the fight each other.

But then, he also realizes that he can't ask for more. Whatever happened between them, it's just between them. Asking for it now when it's pretty evident that Hunter isn't going to add any details to his story won't make any sense. It's already getting better than the way he was feeling before, so he is thankful anyway, no matter of much of this information Hunter hid from him.

"I hope so." He sighs eventually and Hunter smiles.

It's pleasant and it's starting to feel a little warm and familiar, just like when Sebastian smiles. Maybe they will actually find a real balance soon. Kurt hopes that too.

That's eventually the point where the conversation dies.

Hunter smiles encouraging and Kurt gives up on exploring further the mysterious past between Sebastian and him. Hunter stands up and goes back to study and from now on Kurt watches the TV absently, trying to pick up the pieces in his mind and build up something that might make sense. It doesn't though.

He doesn't manage to understand anything more than Hunter has told him.

Until Monday comes …

/

Kurt feels tired out from work. There's nothing he hates more than Mondays at . It's when they start working on the new weekly articles and the office is just a huge mess, especially now that Isabelle has given Kurt his own space and secretary (Kalen, who is a eighteen years old girl who is working for him part-time, but she is useful and nice, so Kurt really doesn't mind that she doesn't spend all day on the phone for him) and there's an actual internal number to call Kurt directly.

A thirty minutes train trip didn't make the day any better and it has been raining since the early afternoon.

So, when he gets home, Kurt is practically begging any existent or non-existent divinity to gain him some peace. Maybe he is going to take a hot bath and hum to Christina Aguilera's new album before Sebastian and Hunter force him to cook – which is not really forcing actually because he loves cooking, but not today, not when he's so tired.

But nothing goes the way he has planned it when he opens the main door, keys flicking into the locket quickly and urgently.

As soon as he opens the door, he can hear screams and insults coming from the kitchen.

It saddens him immediately, the thought that maybe Hunter and Sebastian are fighting again, even if he's trying to replay _No one is leaving, Kurt_ into his head. It doesn't make it any better. But this is also a way to find some answers. Even though there's a part of him who just wants to walk in and stop them, there's also this side of his brain that _needs_ to know more about these fights. And that's the part he eventually gives up to.

He closes the door behind his back, so silently that he's sure his flatmates won't hear it from the way they're still going.

So he just walks along the hallways, slowly and carefully, until his ear is practically glued to the wall beside the door that brings to the kitchen. And well, he's sort of eavesdropping now.

"Oh c'mon, Sebastian, don't be like that." Hunter sounds annoyed. "You know you're making a big deal out of nothing, so just be an adult and stop yelling at me because you're stress-"

"I'm not fucking stressed!" Sebastian replies loudly, and actually, _he sounds_ a lot stressed, Kurt can hear it into his voice. "You are being a selfish bitch and trying to me look like the bad one, but we all know who the asshole is between us, and it's not me!"

"Stop throwing in my face what happened at Dalton," Hunter says lowly, "We're two adults now-"

"We're _three_ adults, Hunter," Sebastian corrects and silence suddenly fills the room before he speaks again, "And you're trying to change it. "

Kurt's heart stops for a moment.

He has no idea what they're talking about, what happened at Dalton, not what the last words mean. But he's shaking, both because he hates people yelling at each other and also because he can't help but feel like he's in the middle of it once more.

And then Sebastian is speaking again.

"This is just what you always do to me," He murmurs and now he doesn't sounds angry; he sounds _hurt_, which is a lot worse than that, "You always manage to find the right way to stab me. You did it yourself and now you're using Kurt for the same aim."

"I'm not using, Kurt." Hunter says softly and Kurt is tensed and scared, but they sound calmer now, so maybe he should come out and tell them he is here. "I know I hurt you back then, but tell me it wasn't the right thing to do. I didn't hurt you because I wanted to, Sebastian. And no matter how much it seems evident to you that I'm using Kurt to hurt you, that's not the truth."

"How can I know that?" Sebastian's voice lights up again, like he feels cheated on somehow. "You're making me feel like I'm the fucking bitch in this place-"

"You are," Hunter replies, a little louder, "All you've been doing lately is starting a fire!"

"I'm doing that because you're-" He cuts and starts again, not calmer though, "I'm tired of this! You know, what? I'm going out!"

Kurt stiffens against the wall, thinking that he should move away, because if Sebastian comes out of the room he is going to see him.

"You're not, Sebastian!" Hunter answers sharply. "Just be a man and don't run for once!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sebastian asks, bitterly.

"It means that you're just a selfish scared coward-"

And that's it.

When Hunter gets cut and Kurt feels a loud noise from the kitchen, he enters the room with no hesitation.

He sees Hunter pressed against the table, Sebastian's left hand holding his shirt and the right one lifted in a fist, like he is about to punch him. It breaks Kurt's heart to see his flamates fighting like this and knowing that he is somehow part of a fight he can't understand makes it even worse.

When he looks away from the fist, he notices that they're both looking at him in shock, like he has seen something he wasn't supposed to see. Especially, when he looks at Sebastian, he is torn and Kurt suddenly makes the words resound into his head, _You are being a selfish bitch and trying to me look like the bad one_.

So he tries not to look judging and he walks slowly across the kitchen until he's reached Sebastian. He lifts his hand and wraps it around his fist, strangely not scared to touch him for once, until he moves it down and it brushes along Sebastian's hip. That's when Hunter moves back from the table, and shifts aside, looking uncomfortable.

And Kurt remembers Hunter's words to at that, about no one stopping them at Dalton, about them toning it down when Kurt is around. The only thing he doesn't believe is that this is about stress. It didn't sound like it.

He looks into Sebastian's eyes and realizes that their fingers are still intertwined, while his flatmates look somehow embarrassed at his presence.

When it's clear that no one is going to explain this to him, Kurt just holds Sebastian's fingers a little tighter.

"There's no bad one here," He murmurs lowly, turning to look at Hunter for a moment, and then he goes back to him, "Why don't we all calm down so that I can make dinner?" He knows his voice sounds too shaky and emotional, but he was really afraid and he can't remember when it was the last time he heard someone scream like that.

Sebastian nods but he doesn't manage to say anything. He doesn't even manage to part his lips and Kurt smiles weakly to make him feel more comfortable. It's strange but this tension in the room is somehow capable of making them feel vulnerable. And since Kurt is starting to know Sebastian and Hunter, he is sure that if he doesn't do anything about it, they will start building up protective walls over themselves and dinner will just be silent and awkward. That's not what he wants though, not after such a terrible day.

All he wants is to have dinner with them calmly.

"Nothing happened," He tries to reassure both, "Why don't we just, huh, get a grip?" He asks hesitantly, stroking Sebastian's palm. "You guys just sit here at the table, study or I don't know, and I'll make you the most awesome dinner ever."

"Thank you." Hunter says, leaning his lower back against the counter of the kitchen.

"Shut up," Sebastian still growls to him, even though it's weaker than before, and then he looks at Kurt, "Thank you." He says warmly, looking straight into Kurt's eyes and Kurt has never seen him acting so gentle to him, not even when Sebastian is worried about him. "I'm really sorry, Kurt." He adds and Hunter lets him, maybe because he agrees, "You weren't supposed to see this. Or hear it."

Kurt wants to answer somehow.

He wants to tell Sebastian that he doesn't know_ why_ he isn't supposed to hear it. He has understood he's in the middle of it somehow, and not like Hunter explained, but maybe asking at this moment isn't the most delicate thing. They would probably start fighting again and Kurt doesn't want them to do so. He just wants to relax _with them_.

"That's okay." He says instead, smiling at Sebastian whiles he keeps on stroking at his palm. "It happens to everyone to just fight. Let's forget about it, okay? Maybe …" He hesitates for a moment before he adds it, because it would totally be a heavy sacrifice, "Maybe we can sit in front of the TV and play one of those action videogames you guys like so much."

Sebastian's face lights up and even though Kurt is not looking at him, he knows that Hunter is at least smiling at the proposition. He knows how much they love those games and well, he feels like they're two kids and he has to find a way to not make them fight – which is secretly_ adorable_.

"Yeah?" Sebastian asks in anticipation, looking ridiculously enthusiastic. "I thought you didn't support the rules of the Creed." He jokes and Kurt turns a smile to Hunter for a moment.

Hunter hesitates, before he finally talks to Sebastian again. "I'm pretty sure Kurt would make a fantastic assassin though."

"He'd be perfect for that." Sebastian answers almost automatically, and then he stops, like he realizes that he made a mistake. He looks up at Hunter like he's considering if insulting him might be a way out for his pride.

Kurt would fight this, but he doesn't feel like telling that he doesn't agree. Instead, he lets go of Sebastian's hand and asks, "What do you want me to cook for dinner?" He asks to both.

"Your chicken salad," Hunter says immediately with no second thought. Then, he stops for a few seconds, just like Sebastian had done a moment ago. "But I guess Sebastian might choose for once. I mean, I always make you cook chicken salad, it's just so good …"

Kurt smiles at the attempt, at the fact that Hunter wanted to be so gentle to allow Sebastian to choose. So he turns to Sebastian, waiting for an answer. He immediately notices that Sebastian is staring at Hunter, there's something fond and sorry in his eyes, like _he cares _and he didn't want to fight with him.

Therefore, when Sebastian eventually wakes up from his considerations to whispers weakly, "Chicken salad sounds perfect," Kurt isn't surprised at all, either at Sebastian's hesitance, or at his own spontaneous smile.

"Then just sit here, I'll be quick." He says and that's the last thing that comes out of his mouth before he steps back and dedicates himself to dinner completely.

The rest of the night goes actually just as Kurt had planned it this time.

They have dinner together and though at first the room is silent and Sebastian and Hunter don't talk to each other, in a few minutes they find themselves making jokes about Kurt and laughing together. For once, Kurt isn't really interested about being the object of their joke. He's just happy about the fact that they aren't fighting, so he won't complain, not tonight. Tonight he just wants to be happy with his flatmates and laugh with them even if it's about him that they're all laughing.

When they're done eating, there's some sort of complicity between Sebastian and Hunter. They're still joking, but they tug at each other and touch one another confidently in a way that makes Kurt happy but also a little preoccupied with his own reactions – well, who would blame him, Sebastian and Hunter are too good-looking guys. Eventually, they get a little cuddly with him too – they wrap their arms around Kurt and play with him – until they propose that they clean the dishes so that Kurt can get some rest – Kurt ignores every possible joke about fairy hands of course.

It's sweet of them, so Kurt just lets them do so and he walks to sit on the couch, in front of their TV. He pretends that he's watching, but actually he's eavesdropping. Sebastian and Hunter laugh and joke together and Kurt's pretty sure this is the happiest he's seen them with each other since they've been living together. It makes his chest inflate with something that suspiciously feels like joy and he finds himself smiling at a screen he's been barely gazing at. If he has to play murdering videogames to make this last longer, then Kurt is going to do just that.

When they come back to him, still pushing at each other playfully – that stupid thing that boys do all the time and that Kurt has never understood – Kurt just tightens his shoulder and presses his knees to his chest, so that he makes room for them on couch. He doesn't know if this is due to the fact that fights make him feel weak, but Kurt would want to be held in their arms. But he also knows that he doesn't have the right confidence to ask for it or to do so, therefore he lets his own heat warm him up and make him feel at least a little more protected.

They start Assassin's Creed II on Sebastian's Playstation and this is actually the first time that Kurt doesn't stand up from the couch as soon as the game starts. Instead, he sinks further in his seat and just stares as Hunter plays. Sebastian and he alternate because they're trying to finish the storyline – though Sebastian has already finished the game hundreds of times – and Kurt just watches the scenes and the gameplay curiously.

At some point of the night, when he has no idea how long it's been since they've started – but it's 2 am which is incredibly upsetting for a boy who hates videogames - Sebastian wraps an arm around his shoulders and he strokes him with his thumb. Kurt tries to fight the sense of warmth that comes with it, and when he almost manages to do so, Hunter grabs his legs and puts them on his crotch so that Kurt "can be more comfortable". It's an amazing feeling, to be so close and intimate with them. It's new but fine.

Kurt has no idea when he actually fell asleep during the game session. All he knows is that when he wakes up in the morning after, he's laid in their only bed, and he can hear from there Sebastian and Hunter laughing and probably trying to make breakfast – from the sound of pans smashing Kurt guesses he should get up before they set the house on fire. On another note, Kurt knows that this is Hunter and Sebastian's way to apologize for fighting in front of him; but the way they laugh with each other is so much better that the idea of getting breakfast in bed.


End file.
